Recently, Huawei issued a notice on its internal employee community platform, revealing that 72 regular employees and 19 non-employees were involved in favoritism and cheating during the recruitment process, with some even selling the company’s information assets for personal gain. Rumors surfaced online claiming that Ren Zhengfei personally went to Chengdu to crackdown on the situation, but Huawei has denied these rumors. This news made its way to the top of the trending searches on March 12th.
On March 10th, Huawei published a 6500-word report on its internal employee community platform “Heart Voice Community”, stating that 72 Huawei employees and 19 non-employees were engaged in favoritism and cheating during the recruitment of non-employees, with several individuals profiting from selling company information assets. This report sparked discussions within Huawei and on social media, ranking first on the trending list in the Heart Voice Community.
The term “non-employee” typically refers to Huawei’s outsourced dispatch (OD) employees, who are distinct from regular employees and ordinary outsourced positions. They usually sign labor contracts with manpower service companies and are dispatched to work at Huawei, mainly in research and development positions such as front-end development, back-end development, software testing, algorithms, big data, etc. Their salary and benefits are generally comparable to those of regular Huawei employees, and they can potentially convert to regular employees through assessments.
An obtained report titled “Decision on the Handling of Persons Responsible for Violations in the Selection of Non-Employee Personnel” revealed that it was issued by the Huawei Human Resources Management Department, signed by the head of the department Zheng Liangcai, and presented to and copied to the board of directors, supervisory board, first-level department presidents, and first-level department HR managers among all senior executives.
The anti-corruption operation this time involved six major business departments including ICT Products and Solutions, Semiconductor Business Unit, Human Resources Management Department, ICT Sales and Service Department, Terminal BG, Quality and Process IT Department.
An employee from Huawei’s Chengdu Research Institute mentioned that the report mainly focused on the data storage department of the institute. Out of over a hundred employees in the data storage business, 62 were explicitly dismissed or criticized in the report, leading to “almost all departments being dismissed”. However, reports of Ren Zhengfei personally visiting Chengdu and conducting crackdowns were deemed false.
The employee from the Huawei Chengdu Research Institute disclosed that in mid-2024, there were reports on social media accusing some Huawei HR personnel, internal employees, a certain IT community blogger, and external training institutions of forming a chain for exam substitution, allowing individuals to pay for placements in Huawei OD positions.
According to Sohu Technology, there were claims of a black market chain emerging in Huawei’s recruitment process, involving cheating from branch leaders to HR and research and development departments, leaking exam questions, and even internal referrals priced between 20,000 to 50,000 RMB, with monthly deductions of 3,000 RMB after employment.
Screenshots of online chat conversations indicated that individuals could earn 20,000 RMB for recommending a person, with HR claiming to include them in OD positions for a fee. The company aided in attracting individuals, facilitating cheating with proxy exams, question leaks, and favorable interviews, and after employment, receiving 2,000 RMB per month.
The aforementioned report pointed out that during the selection of non-employee personnel (similar to self-employed individuals in Hong Kong), several product line managers engaged in exam substitution, arranged for others to cheat, leaked exam questions to candidates, and profited by selling company information assets. After thorough investigations, those involved were dismissed, required to return illegal profits, and compensate for company losses. The incident has garnered attention from various sectors.
The most severe cases involved multiple individuals arranging for exam substitution/cheating in the selection of non-employee personnel, leaking service capability assessment questions, and profiting from selling company information assets illicitly, involving 36 violators. Thirteen were dismissed, had to return all illicit profits, and compensate for company losses; ten were fired for voluntarily declaring or more serious offenses, and another thirteen were advised to resign, with a personal rank reduction by three levels.
Furthermore, 26 related management officials, acting as direct or indirect supervisors, received a personal rank reduction of six levels, with frozen job promotions, salary increases, and upper-level executive appointments for 6 to 12 months. If subordinates commit sporadic violations, only reporting and criticism are imposed. The ICT Products and Solutions department bore the brunt of the sanctions in this incident.